Owen Farrell set to miss start of World Cup after red card in shock England win
Owen Farrell is set to miss the start of the Rugby World Cup after the England captain was sent off for a dangerous tackle on a damaging evening at Twickenham.
Steve Borthwick’s team play Argentina in 26 days time in an opening pool match likely to define their tournament.
They are hurtling towards that date in Marseille in some disarray after Farrell, their leader in every sense, was red-carded for a shoulder to head hit on Taine Basham, which put the Welshman out of the game.
Jack van Poortvliet, their young scrum-half star, is another serious doubt after suffering an ankle injury which throws into question his participation.
Farrell was initially shown a yellow but, under rugby’s new regulations, was dispatched to a bunker while the TMO reviewed the incident.
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“I cannot see any mitigation there,” Sam Warburton said on TV commentary. Neither could the match officials.
Farrell tackles Taine Basham high to earn his marching orders (TOM SANDBERG/PPAUK/REX/Shutterstock)
Maro Itoje, who scored England's winning try, celebrates at final whistle (Getty Images)“Owen’s not a player who would intentionally want to do that,” said George Ford, who came on to replace his friend and marshal an extraordinary come-from-behind win by an England team down to 12 players.
“He’s our talisman, he’s huge for us. We’ll get behind him whatever the outcome, He’s our captain and our leader. He’ll be back.”
Farrell is ineligible to attend World Rugby’s coaching intervention program, which would entitle him to a reduction in sentence, as he has already made his one permitted visit this year.
England scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet is carried off with an ankle injury (AFP via Getty Images)Warren gatland insisted red was the right decision but expressed hope the fly-half “doesn’t get too lengthy a ban”.
“We need people in the game like Owen,” said the Wales boss. “Given his previous I'm not too sure what's going to happen but fingers crossed it's not long for him. He'd be a big loss to England.”
A crazy second half in south west London saw three England stars sent to the bin, calling into question the team’s discipline.
Catalogue of disaster: Freddie Steward escapes a red card - but still gets yellow - for taking Josh Adams out in the air (above) but Farrell (below) is not so fortunate (PA)
(Ashley Western/Colorsport/REX/Shutterstock)But what cannot be doubted is their character after the remaining 12 rallied to score a remarkable win.
Vice-captain Courtney Lawes said: “There’s not many teams that win that game with 12 players so we can take positives from that.
"At the same time it’s not good enough going down to 12 men. There's a lot to learn.”
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Tomos Williams scores Wales' second try to put them 17-9 ahead with 15 minutes left (PA)With the crowd still coming to terms with Farrell’s departure, Maro Itoje claimed the try which brought England back to within a point, before Ford kicked the winning penalty to leave Gatland “furious”.
Defeat would have dropped England to an all-time low of ninth in the world rankings and by half-time they had gone three halves of rugby against Wales without seriously threatening the try line.
On the plus side Ben Earl caught the eye with an all-action display on his first start, three and a half years and 15 replacement caps on from making his debut.
On the naughty step: Carded trio Freddie Steward, Ellis Genge and Owen Farrell (Getty Images)On a mission to make up for lost time, he swarmed in defence, made a couple of key turnovers and almost forced a try after disrupting a Wales scrum on their own line.
There were glimpses of class too from Elliot Daly, sharp on the left wing, whilst Billy Vunipola simply staying clear of injury was reason enough to be cheerful.
The sum total of that, however, was not nearly enough to satisfy their doubters - or worry their World Cup opponents.
Plenty to ponder: England head coach Steve Borthwick (Getty Images)Gatland had ruminated beforehand that Welsh players chasing World Cup selection would make them sharper than opponents already sure of their tickets to France.
England’s problems however were overwhelmingly self-inflicted. Henry Arundell’s first half sin-binning for taking out Liam Williams as he tapped a penalty was an act of stupidity.
That paled alongside the eight minutes of collective insanity after half-time that saw Genge, Steward and Farrell sent to the sideline in quick succession - Steward fortunate to escape red for taking out Josh Adams in the air.
Incredibly, England’s reaction to this adversity was to produce a backs-to-the-wall response, roared on by a near sell-out, which carried them to victory.
ENGLAND - Try: Itoje. Con: Ford. Pens: Farrell 4.
WALES - Tries: Penalty, T Williams. Con: Biggar. Pen: O Williams.
PLAYER RATINGS
England: Freddie Steward 5; Henry Arundell 5, Joe Marchant 7, Ollie Lawrence 7, Elliot Daly 7; Owen Farrell (capt) 5, Jack van Poortvliet 5; Joe Marler 6, Jamie George 6, Will Stuart 6, Maro Itoje 7, George Martin 5, Courtney Lawes 6, Ben Earl 9, Billy Vunipola 6.
Replacements: Ben Youngs (van Portvliet 32) 7, Ellis Genge (Marler 54) 7, George Ford (Arundell 58) 8, J Willis (Vunipola 62) 6.
Wales: Liam Williams 8; Josh Adams 7, Joe Roberts 8, Nick Tompkins 7, Tom Rogers 7; Owen Williams 6, Tomos Williams 7; Gareth Thomas 6, Dewi Lake (capt) 5, Tomas Francis 6, Adam Beard 6, Rhys Davies 6, Dan Lydiate 7, Tommy Reffell 7, Taine Plumtree 7.
Replacements: Sam Parry (Lake 27) 6, Taine Basham (Plumtree 48) 6, Kemsley Mathias (Thomas 50) 6, Dillon Lewis (Francis 50) 6, Dan Biggar (Williams 50) 7, Gareth Davies (Tomos Williams 72) 7.
Man of the match: Ben Earl. First start on his 16th cap and played like man possessed.
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